The West Ham fans in the Bobby Moore Stand chanted, 'Who needs Craig Bellamy?' and on the evidence of this display it was hard to disagree with the sentiment.

West Ham used the money from Bellamy's £12million sale to Manchester City to bring in Savio Nsereko, a 19-year-old prospect with blistering pace.

Savio, as he likes to be known, was given a rapturous welcome by the home supporters on his debut, but the striker only appeared as a late substitute. The man he replaced had prompted the West Ham fans' song about Bellamy.

David Di Michele is on loan from Torino until the end of the season, but judging by the 33-year-old's display here, West Ham could do worse than make that deal permanent, despite his advancing years.

Catching Cole: The West Ham striker is pursued by Noble, Collins and Neill after tapping in his side's clinching goal.

The partnership he has struck up with Carlton Cole already appears every bit as good as anything the former Chelsea striker enjoyed with Bellamy.

Zola said: 'Di Michele has been fantastic for the past few games. We want to build up an atmosphere of fair competition. He was here before I came and if he keeps playing like this he has a very good chance of staying.

'It is a great partnership with Cole. They are looking for each other and they are helping the rest of the team.

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'It has been a great month for us. It is down to all the work we did before. Losing the games in October was an important part of the mental, technical and physical build-up of this team.'

Di Michele's goal was scant reward for such an impressive display, while Cole's effort eight minutes after the break ensured West Ham made it 13 points out of a possible 15. It also consigned Hull to a sixth straight League defeat.

No wonder manager Phil Brown has brought in Jimmy Bullard for a club record £5m. The former Fulham man, who failed to make the grade at West Ham as a youngster, was only fit enough for the bench having just shaken off a virus.

It looked like he had spread it around the Hull dressing room, such was the visitors' drowsy display, the notable exception being goalkeeper Matt Duke.

Brown sprung a surprise by handing Duke, who overcame testicular cancer last year, his first Premier League start ahead of Boaz Myhill. But the decision was fully justified as Duke kept the scoreline respectable with six fantastic saves, including one to deny Mark Noble from the penalty spot.

There was little to suggest a gulf in recent form during the opening exchanges, but a snapshot by Jack Collison, which required a superb save from Duke, was the sign of things to come.

Di Michele then hit the post with a sumptuous curling effort before West Ham's luck appeared to have changed when they were awarded a penalty after Cole tumbled under the challenge of Sam Ricketts.

Noble stepped up to take the spot-kick but Duke was equal to it, leaping to his left to pull off an excellent one-handed save.

The one-way traffic continued and the only surprise was that it took 33 minutes for West Ham to make their dominance count. Once again Di Michele tested Duke, who clawed away his shot. But when Hull failed to clear, Cole sent a dangerous ball to the far post which the goalkeeper could only palm into the path of Di Michele, who slammed it into the roof of the net.

Matt gloss: Hull keeper Matt Duke (left) dives to save Mark Noble's penalty - one of several stunning stops he made to keep the scoreline respectable.

A mauling looked likely and five minutes before the break Di Michele picked out Collison's burst into the box. The youth-team product could only shoot against the foot of a post when scoring looked easy. The same was true when Cole, with only Duke to beat, stabbed straight at the keeper.

Shortly after the restart, Cole made sure West Ham would collect the victory they deserved. The striker was on hand to tap in after yet another Di Michele effort had cannoned off a post across goal.

It was the cue for Brown to introduce Bullard and the new arrival's presence briefly inspired Hull to better things. But with 15 minutes remaining they were indebted to Duke once more as he denied Di Michele again, before rounding off his night's work by tipping a Noble lob over the bar.

Hull are now banking on a fully recuperated Bullard sparking their own recovery. By contrast, West Ham look fighting fit.